Tomatoes Planted

Got all the tomatoes planted today.  What a relief to get that  done on time. 

Seasonal notes

Found the first Junebug of the year last  night. I'll have to watch the Seabuckthorn because i  guess the only things that bother them  are Junebugs.

Grapes are getting flower clusters already,  i counted quite a few.


My Hoya Shepherdi is blooming again.   Yummy scent!

The cucumbers are finally starting to  sprout.  Specialty White and Boston Pickling are the firsts....  oy vey, was i late starting them!

We've been getting that  humid,  rain\sun weather that can be so annoying.


I'm hoping to plant this Sunday and i wish i chanced it a few weeks ago,  it would have been a winning bet this year.  We haven' t had a frost in weeks.  The days have been about 70, so the soil has been warm. 

Squash and cukes, finally...!

Saturday,  i actually found time to plant the cuke and squash seeds.  I seeded three of each:

Delicata- bush,  winter squash
Butternut- bush, winter squash
Yellow Zebra, summer squash

Cukes:

Beit Alpha
Boston pickling
Spacemaster
Specialty White

I'm still not sure if i'm going to try starting my broccoli late as it is or buy seedlings this year.  I think i'll have to buy at this point.

It stinks because my goal all along has been to  grow my own stuff all from seed,  and eventually start saving my seeds so i don't even have to buy any.
I'm taking  some steps back this year because i just have been too busy or mentally 'off'.  I mentioned in the comments section of a favorite blog this morning, that last year's weed war was such a disaster that i'm almost afraid to garden again this year. It was so depressing. I've lost a lot of enthusiasm for gardening over the weeds.  When i was gardening in tiny plots and longing for a big garden like i grew up with,  the weeds were well within control,  but with my little daughter,  mental/physical issues and other stuff,  the big garden is more than a challenge.
But i won't give up.  I just have to figure it out.

The grapes are leafing out well,  the bloom on the apple tree has blown,  the lilacs are in full flower all the way to the tips of the clusters.   Usually they aren't like that until Memorial Day.  We're  about 2 weeks ahead this year.  Yesterday it was 80 and night temps were in the 50's.
My tomato seedlings are in full sun now and stay out at night.  My kales are growing well,  though they are small because i planted so darn late.

Well,  i guess that is it for now.  i have other not as fun stuff to do! ;o)

Last plant

My male Seabuckthorn came in this morning (Friday),  so that is the last of my plants.

Did i mention that my dad delivered me 3/4 of a yard of black mulch on Monday?  I expect it to be almost more than enough to mulch all the beds fairly deep.  I'll be working on that over the next few days or weeks if the rain stays away  ...after i get Mr Seabuckthorn planted.  He's acclimating right now.

Marechal Foch (grape) is the first to open leaves this year,  such a vigorous plant.

Some of the blossoms are dropping off of the blueberry plants.  I really hope something pollinated them.

It looks like i can gauge the timing of my grapes leafing out  when the apple tree is in full bloom.

My tomato seedlings look good,  i just put them out in the shade today (Saturday),  the night time temps look steady in the high 40's to mid 50's,  so i think its ok.   They have reached the maximum height of my lights,  so its time to get them some real light.  It will be time to sow more things in the next couple days.

All in.

Thanks to my hot, husky hubby all my plants (except for the male Seabuckthorn) are in the ground.  This includes the cherries which required the removal of 3 non-fruiting ornamentals which are waiting for my parents to pick up tomorrow. A few bulbs came up with them, daffodils and a pink hyacinth.

He helped me dig a couple holes before he wandered off to mow the lawn after the plants were dug.  I did the rest which wasn't too hard.

I am so relieved that its all done,  there's nothing worse for me than worrying over plants that are waiting to be planted.  I'm always afraid i'll never get to it and by the time i do,  it may be too late-- bare roots moldering in plastic or getting pot-bound or dried out in nursery pots.

But its all done and i survived the anxiety!


On another note,  the apple has opened a few blossoms,  the blueberries are almost in full bloom.  The Jerusalem Arties are annoyingly migrating to the more fertile edge of the garden....  hopefully, by making a walking path in the area and stepping on them will quell their enthusiasm. I plan to do a thorough (as much as possible) harvest of them this fall.
The kale are coming up now,  so i'm happy all in all.

Incoming Orders

Gawsh, i wish i had my camera cable!

My Raintree order came in and things are looking good.  The only thing that didn't come in was my male Seabuckthorn,  but its on backorder and will be shipped around the end of next week.

My order from Pinetree came in as well.

So looks like i am all ready but for the seed starting and digging.

I dug up the seemingly dead elderberry today,  it came up easily enough to do it totally by hand (no shovels or trowels etc.) which was interesting.

My Goldbeere elderberry is a beautiful creature.  It came as a 1 gallon potted,  it already has a flower cluster on it.  The other came as a bare root, so its not as impressive but it has some shoots on it.  Even the cheap Beach Plums (less than $5 each) are larger than expected.  The Goji are nice as well. The Titan Seabuckthorn looks healthy and sturdy too.  I am happy.

I'm also glad that i got the Golden Zebra summer squash this year too.

I am all enthused :o)

Seedlings

My kale seeds are beginning to come up (outdoors i figure they can handle the chilly weather we are having now).  My tomato seedlings are getting their second set of leaves...  the Aunt Molly's are up too..  Two of the Banana Legs have done nothing,  one more day on those and i'll reseed.  Its almost time to start the cukes and squashes.  I never do those very early,  even under 4 lights they get leggy on me.

My Raintree order is expected to arrive tomorrow with my Sea Buckthorns, Gojis, Beach Plums and 2 Elderberries.

The Carmine Jewel cherry plants are looking good in their little pots.

So far the apple tree has not bloomed,  its blossoms are pink in bud right now, but i'm glad there are no blossoms,  there is nothing  out to really fertilize them right now anyway- too chilly.  Its been in the high 40's and mid 50's,  the bees are not out.

My dad came over last Friday and tilled,  he'll come over and till again when its time to plant.  We may get more manure if there is time.

There isn't much else going on right now,  i haven't gotten the non-fruiting plants or the dead, unnamed elderberry out yet.  Maybe this weekend?

Oh and i made a small order at Pinetree,  i had forgotten to order Delicata squash seeds.  I want to try them.  I also got more Provider bush beans as i was running out.  I also tried again to get Golden Zebra summer squash,  last year they had to substitute 49'r because they didn't have any more Golden Zebra.  I also  ordered some nylon trellis netting for the cucumbers to grow on.

That's it.

Catch-up

Didn't i say i was going to plug in the list of what i seeded the other day?

So i'll do it now:

Tomatoes
4 Pruden's Purple
2 Sweet Chelsea
4 San Marzano Lampadina
4 Banana Legs
4 San Marzano from Providence Acres
3 Aunt Molly'sGround Cherries (also from Providence Acres)

Everything is up except 2 Banana Legs and the 4 Aunt Molly's

Kale
3 Red Russian
3 Kai Lan Queen
1 Starbor   (only had one seed left!)
3 Peacock Red- Flowering
3 Fringed Formula- Flowering
3 Teasel
2 Saltwort

None up yet.  They are outside anyway.  In the weirdly warm weather  we've been getting.

I may rethink the teasel. I often wanted it for a couple interesting seedheads, but further research calls it a potentially noxious weed,  and i had assumed this biennial plant was an annual and not hardy to my area.

I am going to try and make room for some Job's Tears and Leonotis,  Job's Tears have such pretty seeds for beading and i love the Leonotis flowers.

So...  i'll probably stuff  some Job's Tear seeds in the Teasel pots and call it good.  Same with the Saltwort.  Further  research on that shows seed viability of about 4 months. {facepalm} My seeds are 2 years old.  Bleh.

My Carmine Jewel cherry trees came today.  They look pretty good actually. Small,  but fully leafed, sturdy little things.  I am not disappointed.  Wish i could post a pic,  but like i mentioned before,  i can't find my camera-to-laptop cable or my minidisk adapter.

The grapes are now waking up and getting full sun much of the day.  The apple is getting pink buds.  The blueberries are getting ready to blossom. The prune plum has leafed out, lilac buds are the length of my index finger, grape buds are swelling, the Autumn olive is looking good, the asparagus is almost 2 feet tall (can be harvested next spring).  Well,  i think that is it for today...

Seeds Started

Got my tomatoes and kales seeded in pots tonight. I had some extra space so i went ahead and planted some teasel for fun. Not much else going on except for the incredible weather.  I'll record the seed list tomorrow.  Too tired from chasing somebody small and cute around outside.

Sunburnt

Just a little.  But this is the earliest time i have ever gotten a sunburn. I kept loading the sunscreen onto my little one,  but forgot to apply it to myself.

The lilacs are making little flower buds now.  I must get seeds started soon. Hopefully tomorrow.

Early Spring Continues

The weather was gorgeous today. We were easily in the 70's.  Budding and leafing is well underway for most things. The apple tree is almost ready to open its leaf buds,  the lilacs have leaves that are thumb sized.  The horseradish has been awake for weeks now,  the asparagus are popping up,  the blueberries are sending out red buds,  elderberries are sending out shoots. Daffodils are blooming, Stanley (prune plum) is waking up. I've got the rhubarb covered by a black rubber tub to blanch it. Also, my from-seed Autumn olive is leafing.

First mow of the lawn was done today.

Its been so dry though.  Fire warnings have been issued almost daily and we have not had more than a token rain shower or two for what seems like a very long time.

We are still getting the occasional frost.  Of course i'm worried about flowering and killing frosts.  But there's nothing i can do really.


i ...think... my unnamed elderberry might be dead.  its showing no signs of waking up,  while York and Nova are stretching out.  Its ok though,  i'd rather have named plants anyhow.  I have Goldbeere and Caerulea coming. I'll just dig it up and throw it out.  New plants should be here by the end of the month.

I was hoping to start digging up the unwanted plants this weekend,  but our oldest daughter spent the weekend at my parents' house so i had nobody to watch the youngest daughter while i dug.  So maybe sometime this week since it is April vacation.

I'm hoping to get my seeds started this week as well.  Its Sunday now and 7 weeks to last frost.  After years of starting way too early i have finally learned to cool my jets and wait.  I'll start tomatoes first and squashes later.  Cukes too.
I'm also not using 9packs this year.  The wells are just too small for good root growth.  i never have time or the room to pot-up,  so i'm using the paper flats i saved from last years' marigolds and 3" single pots saved from herbs i bought from Garden Spot.

Well i guess that is it for today.  I started writing this Saturday and its now Sunday morning and the little one wants desperately to go outside,  so out we go!
.-
.

Some more rearranging

I decided that the Rose of Sharon (double, pink) that is by the elderberries, will go.  I'm giving it to  my mom. It gets too big and bushy, i don't like the shredded looking flowers and it does not produce fruit.  It just sits there, annoying me.  So it will be moved to a new home.   I also decided the same for the small hydrangea (not the big old PeeGee) and the purple smoke bush.  Both need more room than i have in their spots.  I tried keeping them dwarfed by pruning,  but they just look stunted, not dwarfed  There is a difference in my eyes.  My mom is very willing to take them.

So, to fill the gaps,  i decided i want fruit.  Small fruit.  Not apples or pears.   Cherries sounded nice.  Also considering my oldest daughter's recent fascination with the Washington D.C. and Japan Cherry Blossom Festivals,  it seemed like a good idea.  So i did some researching for very small, treelike cherry types.  Carmine Jewel seems to fit the bill.  Not cheap and based on reviews,  not very big for almost $30 each,  but excellent in all other respects (i got to use the $25 off coupon). But,  i have gotten used to mail-order companies and have had no trouble with DOAs and replacements,  so i'm taking the chance.  I also have made no  major purchases since last summer (My Raintree order, due to be shipped the end of this month),  no more than $5 in seeds.  All i need is seed starting mix and time.  After these cherry trees come,  i will be officially out of room.

Carmine Jewel is expected to be very hardy,  compact- almost bushlike tree form,  high yeilding, 6.5 foot plant.  The fruit are sweet and a bit tart,  but get sweeter the longer they are left to ripen.  The flowers are supposed to be pretty and fragrant which is nice because other than the apple,  i no longer have flowering plants that smell pretty.

So,  maybe this weekend,  i'll be digging up the old plants and the cherries should be arriving shortly after.

I need to  find my camera's cable so i can post pictures again.

Nomal weather again

Woke up to snow this  morning,  just a dusting that was soon gone.  The ground is warm enough so it didn't stick really.  The temps were above freezing anyhow.  I doubt it hurt much in the way of plants.

The maples are flowering as of Sunday,  my elderberries were also showing buds. I have one unnamed one that i got a year before the Nova and York that seems to die to the ground each year...  not  sure if i will keep it  if that is the way things are going to be. It takes longer to start than the others; barely berried last year and had tiny fruit.  I don't want to kill it,  but if its not going to produce it won't be part of my landscape.  I don't have enough room to waste.

Its been cold since Sunday.  It rained that day and has been dry  and very windy from then on.We are under fire danger warnings due to the dryness and wind.  We are pretty dry op here from getting very little snow all winter. 

String of gorgeous weather

We have been in the 60's the last few days. Its lovely and distracting.  I have had the windows open for the last 5 days.  I am more than 10 weeks from the last frost date and at least 2-3 weeks from being able to start seeds.  I was going to Wintersow this year, but in a way, i'm glad i did not.  We didn't get much snow at all and we were quite warm some days.  I bet i would have had sprouts that were soon frozen again.

I'm a bit worried about my fruiting trees and bushes.  Though there are no obvious signs of early budding, if this weather keeps up and we get a frost, i'm sure to lose blossoms.  I spent a good bit of time outside with my youngest daughter, so i was able to get a close look at things.  The lilacs do look like they are waking up.  It feels like May, not March.

 I was surprised to see a honey bee today. She buzzed right up to my face so there was no mistaking what it was....  it worries me that the ladies are coming out already-- there are absolutely no flowers out yet.  At least as far as i have seen...  dandelions sometimes appear early- and if i still had crocuses i might expect to see them just breaking the surface but not blooming.  I hope she was a domestic and her beekeeper is feeding sugar water.

The snow is gone from the yard, all but the shady part of he fence where the grapes are.  A few strips of ice are left.  The rhubarb is waking up. No word from the chives and welsh onions yet.

I have decided not to use the hoops this year, Unfortunately they allow the weeds to get a big jump on me, they are tedious to install and tedious to take down.  Difficult to unhitch when it was time to weed. I think i'll just use the Remay as floating covers instead.  We are also considering using black mulch to keep down the weeds this time.  The weeds always get away from me and go to seed,  so even with a 3-year old garden i still have weeds like a first year.

We are supposed to get into the 80's on Thursday.  We'll see how much stranger this Spring can get!

Who dosen't like Chinese food?

Or any "Asian" food in general?  Even if most of what we get here in the USA is made to appeal more to American tastes...  its still my favorite genre of foods.
However,  i don't get to have it often.  My hubby prefers Italian and Tex-Mex style foods much more... and that is much more than i do. 
I have noticed over time that i am getting really tired of tomato/pasta/cheese meals. I have been searching for new recipes in the last few weeks, but so many of these 'quick and easy meals' start right out with tomatoes.  Now, don't get me wrong...  i adore a fresh tomato and a good sauce is hard to beat, but tomato based meals 5 nights a week is getting hard to swallow.  Another point of discontent is the vegetables.  Most of my non-tomato meals are slow-roasted, soups, stews, or boiled dinners.  This means soft vegetables.  I'm hurting for some fresh crunch, bright flavors and unique taste.
So i decided to turn to the alternative.
The only sticking point is that much of the special flavors in Asian foods comes from unique ingredients.  Not having much of an Asian population here can make this difficult.  I can find things like panko bread crumbs, soy sauce, pre-made teriyaki sauce and dried shiitake mushrooms,  but not much else.
Last year i found an online company called Asian Food Grocer.  I was looking for unique candies for my oldest daughter.  She loves Kit-Kats and AFG sells sweet potato flavored Kit-Kats among other unusual flavors of them. So i made a small order and was pleased with the service.
My oldest has lately been intrigued by Japanese foods and culture, feuled by anime and those Kit-Kats, so this Christmas i ordered her some Japanese soda pop, more unique candies and their biggest package of nori (both of my kids eat nori by the sheet). It was an absolute hit. Considering that both orders went so well, i decided to go all out and really fill my pantry with more authentic ingredients.
I researched recipes and noted all the non-American seasoning- oils, pastes, sauces/condiments.  It was a lot of fun to learn about them and how they are used.
I found a few helpful recipe sites:
http://www.chinese-food-recipes.net/
http://www.japanese-food-for-health.com/basics.html

Soon, armed with special ingredients i should be able to change up our daily meals with new flavors from subtle Japanese to more indulgent Chinese.
 I wonder if we might even lose some weight?

Now on to gardening....

Asian vegetables.

Some are not too uncommon around here (though slightly different they are usable).  Green onions, various cabbages, eggplant, cucumbers, carrots, kale, snow peas, gourds, radishes, turnips, squashes, pumpkins and more.
All of this i can grow at least part of the year.
This means i may be changing my garden plans...again.  What a surprise!
I shouldn't have to change much,  just reconsider some varieties.  Maybe instead of globe onions, bunching onions might be good- and easier.  Instead of regular cabbage, maybe napa cabbages. Not sure how easy it is to grow daikon... but maybe worth a try- or research at least. .
I'm looking into trying winter melon too...  but it looks like they are huge plants.  Remember my birdhouse gourd experience?
  Maybe i can try something in my parents' garden. 
I read that winter melons taste similar to summer squash and zucchini, so it may not be worth bothering with.
But the bunching onions sound easy enough.
Green beans are used a lot and i have good luck with those.
Broccoli is fairly common and i planned that anyway.
There are some interesting sweet peppers i'd like to try... i think i'll pass on the hot ones.
I'm not sure about eggplant.  I had terrible luck the last two summers with Slim Jim and didn't have much better luck with Raveena which is a 70 day-  both Asian long types.  If i can find a cooler-cropping, earlier type and start them early i might try it.  Big round eggplant isn't cheap up here so a good crop would be worth the effort.

 Anyway, that's what i'm thinking.  I'll have some time to experiment with grocery store veggies over the winter and see how it goes.

What a bizarre winter- weather, marine tank, and orders for Spring.

Here it is January 1, 2012 and its 42 degrees out at noon.   We got a little snow for Christmas and snow showers all day, so it was pretty.  A few days later we got a lot of rain which washed the snow away.  Friday night into Saturday brought us some freezing rain and sleet making the roads a bit slippery.

One of my hubby's fraternity brothers was planning on coming over to pick up the salt water aquarium stuff i'm giving him.  After my heater malfunctioned last fall and i had to evacuate the tank i just haven't had the desire to rebuild.  So, i'm giving it all away. Tanks, stands, overflow box, return pump, refractometor, skimmers, metal halide light, about 50# of base rock....  Anyway, it will likely be next week before he can pick it up.  Maybe i'll get back into it some day,  but i sort of doubt it.   Though i loved having one, it takes a lot of time and commitment, and unless you are lucky enough to be given lots of good equipment, it can be a real money pit.
I just want to complete this chapter of my hobby life and move on.

Zoanthids, my favorite variety of coral

I don't remember if i recorded it yet,  but late summer i made an order with Raintree Nursery. My order consisted of :

Phoenix Tears Goji berry- 2
Male Seabucktthorn- 1
Female Titan Seabuckthorn- 1
Goldbeere Elderberry- 1
Caerulea Blue Elderberry- 1
Native Beach Plum- 4

My order is slated to be shipped the week of 4-29-2012

I have seeds for most of these plants, but the majority of them need to be stratified for as much as 6 months.  I have tried some of them without success and really kind of wasted those 6 months  of time.  Then it would be as long as 3 years before harvest begins.  Also, most of these seeds don't come with a cultivar name- likely are the wild sort with unpredictable production and quality.  So i decided to bite the bullet and order these named  plants from a seller with a decent reputation.
Not sure what i will do with my seeds... maybe trade them or just give them away.

 I'm building up quite an elderberry collection.  When my order arrives i will have 5 types. Elderberries can be used to make Elderberry Syrup, which is a well loved cold remedy known for a very long time in Europe.
I could also make jelly and wine if the harvests begin to get large.

Gojiberry (also called Wolfberry) As well as being darn tasty, this is another fruit with health benefits. It has quite a history in Chinese medicine.

Seabuckthorn has a long list of beneficial properties.  From immune system support, anti-inflammitory effects to anti cancer possibilities.  There are a lot of sites out there that will proclaim this superberry as a cure-all. Using multi colored 10 point font all caps and will charge you indecent sums for their product...  while not exactly a magic bullet, it does have valuable benefits.
They are said to be a bit of a challenge to harvest since they have large thorns.  Commercially, whole branches are removed to be stripped by machine.  According to what i have read, the berries will hold well on the plant so picking a modest amount at a time over days will be possible.  The berries can be frozen to hold until enough are gathered.  The juice is a vibrant orange and separates into three layers, cream, oil and juice.  The leaves also make a nice tea.  Apparently Junebugs like them so i'll have to be vigilant.

The native beach plums were purchased to replace the ones i got from Oikos.  Those plants did well in pots for almost 3 years, but got dried out late last summer and didn't make it through the winter.   As i am planning to plant these in the side of the front yard box, i need a fruiting plant that can handle road salt. Hopefully they will be a good size when they arrive and put on some good growth before next winter so they can withstand piled snow from the plow.  This winter would have been perfect because there is no snow and no snowbanks to worry about.  The price was decent so i bought 4 in case i have winter casualties due to snowbanks.  The  2 spares will be planted out back for safekeeping.  The native beach plum has no touted health benefits, but has a reputation for making a fine jelly and should be edible right off the tree.

If i have success with these plants, i plan to share cuttings with anyone who asks- as long as i have enough to work with.  Assuming anyone is interested, lol



So, basically i've been spending some time perusing my newly arrived seed catalogs.  I don't plan to do much experimenting this summer.  I'm sticking to the standard veggies.  Tomatoes, beans, squashes etc.  I did get some seeds from Sheryl at Providence Acres.  I bought:
Aunt Molly's Ground Cherries
San Marzano Paste Tomatoes  - i do already have seeds for some from Pinetree, but i thought i'd like to try and compare two varieties and, of course the photos of her tomatoes make them look absolutely delicious.
I also got a bonus packet of Morning Glory seeds,  thanks Cheryl!

I doubt i'll bother starting peppers from seed this year. I have yet to get a usable fruit.  They simply don't seem to have enough time to grow.  I think i will buy seedlings from Garden Spot this year.  If it does not work this year, i'll give up on it.  Peppers are not very cheap around here, so it is worth another shot.


Well, that's all for now.  My toddler is having a tantrum. :)


Happy New Year all!

Hi

No this is not a dead blog.  I have not had much going on gardeningwise, been busy but nothing really worth writing about.  I haven't even had time to read one of the many books i have been wanting to spend time with.  --Or even to crochet.

One thing i could mention is that i have started getting my seed catalogs in the mail. Pinetree Garden Seeds, Johnny's Selected Seeds and One Green World so far.  I haven't had much time to page through those yet either!

So that is it, i'm not planning to quit writing, its just on hold for now.  God bless and if i'm not back again before the month is out, have a very Merry Christmas!

Snow and yarn!

We got some snow last night. I mean, nothing accumulated...but i saw spits of flakes falling from the sky so i'm officially calling it the first 'snow' of the season. Not quite the first "snowfall" but the first sighting of flakes is my criteria. This weekend we may have actual snowfall, a couple inches possible over Saturday night.  Yeah, i'm excited. Gardening season is over so the snow isn't getting in my way.... spring snow is what i don't like, lol

So,  what will i be doing this winter? Well, i forgot to mention this in my last post....but this is what hubby found for me a couple weeks ago

Yes, its all yarn!  We have a little shed off to the side at the town Transfer Station (town dump) where people can put what they don't want but isn't trash. Hubby happened to be there at just the right time to find me this huge stash. We assume the original owner must have passed on and her family does not have a fiber hobbyist.  There was some unfinished work in there in knit, so i assume she was mainly a knitter.  About a month before this my hubby brought home a ton of knitting books for me. We wondered if its from the same family.
I sorted it all out the next day.  Lots of acrylic, some wool, cotton, orlon etc. Plenty of Red Heart, some Bernat a little Patton's, a couple Caron and a large amount of unknown brands and labelless skeins. There were a number of bags of many skeins of all one color. There are also a bunch of variegated yarns in bright and earthy colors.
Well i don't have enough totes to hold it all, so i had to use new trash bags-- not the best method i'm told.  But it was all in plastic when i got it anyway. I counted 9 bags of yarn when i was done.
So i guess we know what i'll be doing this winter!
My first project is a granny square blanket. I'm using the variegated yarns to make the squares and i'll attach them with a dark colored yarn when i'm done. I have about 12 done so far.

I'm very grateful for all this yarn. Its easily $300.00 worth or more. Hubby says i'm not allowed to buy any yarn until its all gone.  I agree!


We are now officially under a winter storm watch for Saturday night into Sunday. Six to 8 inches possible.

Slacking!

There have been things going on,  but being busy with other things makes the fun time i spent writing take a backseat.

A quick grape gripe:

My Reliance grapes did fantastic this year. i allowed about 3 bunches to grow and they were looking great as they ripened.  Around Aug 28, when hurricane Irene was coming into my area,  they were just a hair away from perfect ripeness.  Around Aug 30th,  when i ventured out to pick them,  they were gone.  Completely gone.
I suspected squirrels. Or birds....  Anyway,  so all i got out of  Reliance was the few taster grapes that were yummy.

I suppose i should have expected to be raided, but i didn't expect 3 bunches to attract any attention...  now i know!

Marechal Foch also had 3 bunches that ripened. Nothing stole those. They were also delicious and i was able to pick a few at a time as i puttered around the yard. Now the rest of what is left are overripe and the wasps have found them.

Now i know i have 2 varieties of grapes that are delicious and i'll expect to defend them from raids next year.

First frost:

Our first frost was Oct 5 this year. Then a mild day and then another heavy one on the 7th.  Its really too bad,  we have had such mild weather since then,  the tomatoes would probably still be growing.  I would have tried covering them but the temps were expected to be so severe, covering would have only added a few degrees of protection- and would have come short.


I picked a nice basket of apples from the tree, plan is to make pie or apple sauce with them.  They aren't all wormy, but some are and the skins are speckled with something originating from bugs.  I stopped my spraying routine too early not knowing when the fruit would be ripening.  I probably could have done 2-3 more doses.

I also harvested my Oaxacan and Hopi Blue corn.  I peeled back the husks and saw beautifully colored kernels of green, blue, purple and speckled yellow.  I set it out on the porch of the screenhouse to dry.  By the next afternoon, the squirrels had found and danced off with the lot.  About 20 ears.....  oh well. *sigh*
I decided earlier this year that i won't be growing corn next year. It never produces much and something always happens to it anyway.

Oh, what else?

Well i got a pretty good harvest from the early butternut squash, despite the raging plague of squash bugs. The squash is smallish, but just the right size for a 4 person side veggie.

Did i mention the potatoes?

I dug up the rest the other day. I didn't really get much, but its ok.  They are smallish, maybe i'll go for a bigger variety next year.

Its almost time to dig up the Jerusalem artichokes.  The plants are huge and they flowered nicely this fall.  I should get a decent crop.

I'm hoping next year is more weed free.  The weeds really got away from me this summer. Much of my garden was wasted because of it.
I think gardening with my little one will be possible next summer.  While i was out pulling up the tomato cages, she stayed with me and didn't wander off too much.  She'll be 3 this winter and a few more months of maturity on her will help her be a better listener- i hope.  I'm also hoping she will be cooperative enough to allow me time to preserve some things.


Well the weather is definitely cooling off, its been in the 50-60 range for the last week.  We did have warmer days until then, it was a fairly mild stretch going for a while.  The week ahead forecast is calling for a little snow late Thursday night, no accumulation expected-- but it will be nice to see snow again.

Well, this entry took about a week to cobble together a little at a time.  I think i got everything covered for now!